My father and I had a whirlwind drive through the Maritimes the first week in May. NH to St. John to Charlottetown to Sydney to Halifax to Digby to St John to Fredericton to NH; 2242 miles in six days (what’s that, 7800 kilometers?;)). A few favorite moments were driving out the tip of Canso where Stanfest is held (I waded in the Atlantic and thought about Stan), playing “Guysborough Train” as we pulled into Guysborough, seeing the giantest axe in Nackawic. So, questions:
We finally figured out that the containers near folks’ mailboxes are for garbage bags? That’s what we guessed but couldn’t be sure till we saw the garbageman opening one. (Do you ever call the garbageman a dustman like in the Stan Rogers song?) If you have one, what design is it? My favorite was one that looked like (and may have been) an old fuel oil tank. If you don’t have one, do you feel envy toward those with them? Do you feel pressure to get one?
Is there special collection of big complicated trash during the first week of May? My father spotted a couch by the side of the road and joked about loading it into the truck. Then we passed a recliner, then a roll of carpet, later an entertainment center…was this special or can you put this kind of garbage out anytime and it just happened to be spring cleaning time?
How do you say poutine? I’ve always thought of it as poo-TEEN but someone seemed to say poo-tin with no emphasis on either syllable? More importantly, what is the quintessential poutine to get and from where? One place seemed to offer varieties of it but I should start with the classic, no?
Did you play Hello City as you pulled into Halifax?
It’s too late now, I guess, but I would have recommended a stop in Lunenburg. I had a few days there a while ago and it’s a lovely little town with a very strong maritime tradition.
University ends, first week of May! Students pack up and bolt, leaving lots behind in the old couch, second hand furniture department. I live in a uni town and I think the local Goodwill resells the same couches, over and over, from year to year!
Everyone I know calls them garbage men. The containers are more of a small toen/rural thing. Big city dwellers will not have them but rural dwellers do to keep the critters out of the garbage. In the area my inlaws live there are a couple of people who have an old car trunk that they chopped off an old car to function as the garbage container.
You were witness to the spring clean up. There is one collection day every spring where the city will pick up oversized items that you wish to dispose of at no charge. This is also a time where large roving bands roam the neighborhoods in search of free stuff that they feel they can rehabilitate.
The New Brunswick pronunciation is poo-tin with no particular emphasis on either syllable. If you are ever in Moncton, stop in at The Tide and Boar and sample the Boar Poutine. Poutine topped with boar meat and their own homemade ketchup. It is heaven in a bowl.
Kill-AH-mitter.
Fundy National Park
Walk around the Mount Allison campus in Sackville.
The Halifax farmers market by the docks
Lunenburg Nova Scotia
Baddeck Nova Scotia
Jealous! Ah well, I’ll be heading out there in August, so my day will come.
I would add bar hopping in Halifax - great mix of live music available virtually any night of the week.
And your thread title leads me to ask: does any other nation refer to a coastal region as “the Maritimes”? Are there US, Russian, Australian, etc. “Maritimes”? (Not in any way being snarky - I’m seriously asking.)
Cool - thanks. My parents had been camping a few times in the area and he mentioned the “flowerpots”. I need to lose weight before I go again so I have more energy to walk and take easy hikes.
